Caseville, Pt. III

(contd.)

The next morning played out exactly like the day before. Folks got around slowly, heading up to the shower house (about 100 ft from our block of sites), Yours Truly got the coffee going, and breakfast prep was started (the Johnsons were handling it this time around.) Ella found a friend at one point, shamelessly walking around with this gross thing in her hand and showing it off to people.

Morning coffees around the dormant fire pit.

Courtney made up two breakfast bakes for everyone, one with sausage and one with bacon (both of which were amazing, as always.)

Collier helps Kris pump up her paddle board (because her own husband was too preoccupied with taking pictures, of course.)

Collier took this pic of Erik, Lonnie and I hauling the group's gear to the beach while he, the wives, and offspring hoofed it like the peasants they are. 

Back to the bridge that leads to the beach.

Straight into the water, having set up our canopy and claimed our usual spot on the beach.

The main area of the campground's beach was packed today, but the pet-friendly area was once again scarcely-populated, which was ideal.

Collier, Erik and Lonnie

It's like having a private beach. Way better than crowding in with a bunch of strangers.

The kids dig in to the packed sandwiches that we prepped ahead of time for lunch.

Staying hydrated is key, folks. Beer works just as well as water at the beach, just sayin'.

A few hoes out on the water.

What can I say, I'm a snappy dresser.

Taking a break from the water.

Erik and I, using the facilities.

Couple selfie.

We hung out at the beach for nearly five hours today, before heading back to the camp sites in the late afternoon/early evening. Folks were bronzed and burnt, but it was a great time - couldn't ask for better weather.

Having a lime beer by the fire as folks begin prepping for dinner.

Johnsons and Houghs were on dinner this evening, which was burgers, brats and dogs. Collier joined in to grill up some bacon for folks' burgers, because we're a bunch of fancy bitches up in this joint.

Erik handled the grilling on his Blackstone griddle, while Yours Truly assisted with plates and buns.

Working the kitchen.

Food was devoured as soon as it came off the grill, so we definitely had an assembly-line thing going this evening.

The kids dig in.

Free Palestine, motherf***ers.

Collier overseas the feeding process.

The wives load up their plates.

These kids got along incredibly well this weekend, despite their age differences (Abby and Ella are the oldest, with Elise a year behind them and Teagan and her friend two years younger, followed by the boys.) They're practically cousins by this point in time, having been forced to hang out with each other and get-togethers on an almost weekly basis for nearly a decade by this point.

Erik breaks out a bottle of Eagle Rare bourbon for the dads, following dinner. Can't go anywhere without a bottle of good quality bourbon, folks.

Us dads took Winnie on a post-dinner walkabout of the campground, not as long as the wives did the day before but enough to burn off some of the heavy food.

We broke out some Euchre upon our return to the site, with Collier and I absolutely destroying Erik and Lonnie over the course of a few games. It was brutal.

Kris always gets really flattering pictures of me. Looking like I'm shitting my pants here, for Christ's sake.

Stefanie strings up the red, white and blue lights Kris and I keep with our camping stuff. We definitely need to up our light game one of these days.

The wives took some of the kids back down to the beach for the sunset, but it was overcast so it wasn't photogenic at all this time around. Us dads opted to hang back at the site with some of the other kids and continued to drink and play cards.

Mom selfie on the beach.

Just look at that glorious. . . sunset.

As evening wore on to night, we got another fire going and stayed up a little later than the previous night. This time around our music drew the attention of the park rangers, who had to ask us to keep it down at one point, but they were cool about it at least.

Today marked the last of our beach days, as the following day was overcast, mid-70s, with a few isolated showers expected. We'd therefore be adjusting our plans and heading into to a couple of nearby towns in order to walk around and eat out instead, but we'll get to all that next time around. Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion. . .

- (to be concluded. . .)